Khaled Alkayed

Artist of the Year 2016

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Congratulations Khaled!

It's our pleasure to present Khaled Alkayed, our 2016 AREA Artist of the Year! Khaled was voted into the top 3 during our community voting on Facebook and then chosen as the winner by our panel of judges.

Read below to hear more from Khaled.

Interview

AREA Team

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

Khaled Alkayed

An idea that I want to bring to life; I might not even fall asleep in the first place!

AT

It's been a good day when..

KA

...I'm so tired, my render has finished successfully without any issues and I've received some awards :)

AT

It's been a bad day when...

KA

...when I work hard to make something awesome for a client then they reject it and ask me for another option that is very "simple".

AT

Tell us about your winning piece.

KA

The idea came to me when I was watching movies like Death Race and Mad Max. This inspired me to start creating a similar concept, so I started with Maybach Exelero then Ferrari Enzo and finished here with the Rolls Royce model. From the beginning, my goal was to create a distinguished model that would extend creatively into a realm of unconventional ideas, which led me to spend quite a bit of time thinking and trying to come up with such extreme and enhanced concepts, more than anything that I've ever seen. For that I used Autodesk Maya, V-ray for rendering, and Adobe Photoshop.

AT

What have you worked on that you are most proud of or excited by?

KA

Everything that I've worked on is a source of pride and has a story behind it that I relate to. Some of the artwork didn't get official recognition in terms of awards but people loved it and felt the message behind it. I believe that sharing all my work has had a huge impact in terms of learning and progressing; I absorb all the feedback coming from amazing people everywhere and I build on it. What I'm really proud of is this learning process and personal growth.

AT

What inspires you creatively?

KA

Anything unique and beautiful, everywhere: ads, movies, artworks and designs. I follow a considerable amount of amazing artists and designers, do a lot of research and collect anything of relevance. Most importantly, I feel that being surrounded with creative people whether virtually or physically opens up an entire space for imagination, possibilities and creative thinking.

AT

What is your biggest challenge when working on a new piece?

KA

I think the big challenge is bringing it to life. I always try to find any issues in the image or try to change anything that will make the image better. It sounds like a technical challenge but it's more of a creative and perfectionist dilemma as I have to maintain the same energy and enthusiasm over the course of the process.

Petra

AT

What is your job position right now?

KA

I'm working as a 3D Artist, Specialized in 3D Printing, Gaming and Advertising.

AT

Tell us about your start in the industry.

KA

My journey into the 3D world started about 5 years ago when I decided to create a videogame as a graduation project with a couple of my friends. At that time, I was a good gamer but had no idea how to build a game! So I did a lot of research and studied the field, and as I was working with my team during the initial stages, I realized that working on the 3D art was the most enjoyable part for me within the entire game development cycle. Therefore, I started to delve deeper and deeper into it by learning 3D tools like Maya and ZBrush. I've also taken many courses in Maya and some other 3D tools at Trixel Studio, which helped me a lot in this project and many others. Finally, I managed to create all the required 3D models for our first game from scratch and - I'm happy to say - our graduation project won first prize in the Annual National Technology Parade in Jordan. From that day on, I continue to learn new skills because I believe that improvement is a never-ending process, so I must keep learning and practicing.

AT

What are your hobbies/what do you do in your down time?

KA

My hobby, not far from the nature of my work, is that I spend time on contests for 3d printing; work in the 3D printing field is great fun. Of course, this doesn't prevent me from spending time with family and friends.

AT

Advice for other young 3d artists?

KA

Learning and succeeding come with both wins and failures. You might feel down sometimes but hope and determination are the keys to success. At the beginning of any project you create, make sure that the primary goal is to work in a unique way that distinguishes your work from others and defines your identity as an artist, so your main train of thought most of the time is spent on coming up with better and more edgy ideas. If you want to be creative and unique, pick an idea that's beyond your abilities. You will never learn or push your abilities further unless you leave comfort zone. Maintain an open mindset and stay humble.

AT

You live in Jordan, correct? Are born and raised there? Have you worked/traveled elsewhere?

KA

Yes, born and raised in Jordan, but I've never worked or traveled elsewhere.

AT

What do you love most about what you do?

KA

Seeing all the crazy and imaginative ideas that I'm able to bring to life.